


The Witches

by gloomyOptimist



Series: Classstuck [5]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Classstuck, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 23:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1620839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloomyOptimist/pseuds/gloomyOptimist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deep within the mountains, the old stories say, there resides three mischievous witches who, if crossed, could warp the fabrics of space, time, and even life itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Witches

From the outside, the cave was not remarkable. It was nestled away from the main path, high on the mountain where the trees thinned and snow often spotted the ground. The only hint a traveler would have that something was strange was the way the landscape became greener as they drew close. Its entrance was cluttered with ferns and mosses, and a warm breeze came from within.

Those who did manage to find it were usually smart enough not to enter.

This arrangement was preferable to the witches who resided within, as they were rarely interested in company. After all, over the last several hundred years company usually meant trouble (which often led to relocation, and they were quite fond of this particular cave). A few hundred feet in from the mouth of the cave, the tunnel opened up into a sizable cavern, the far end of which had a hole in the ceiling that let in light and rainwater. The pool of water underneath held a plethora of fish and amphibians which normally would not live in such a place, and around it all manners of flora grew in abundance, soaking up the sunlight and enjoying the unusual warmth.

This grotto happened to be the only area of the cavern free from clutter. Many lifespans had left the witches with many treasures--wondrous, unique, dangerous, and charming things with no particular unifying theme. It also left them with a wide array of completely useless crap that they no longer bothered to sort through. Tables were piled with spell books, lanterns, interesting artifacts, and cursed relics, while any number of cauldrons frothed with questionable liquids. In a section on the north end of the cave, maps of all varieties imaginable were rolled, stacked, or hung, and navigational instruments were thrown haphazardly about. Charts, notes, and equations were littering every surface, half forgotten or abandoned. On the opposite side of the cave, an entire wall was covered in hundreds of clocks ticking in absolute synchrony, merging together into one resounding note that echoed through the chamber and offshoot tunnels. Rusty gears and pieces of music boxes were strewn the floor, and a chair--once regal, but now worn and battered--sat before the wall, facing inward toward the cavern. In it, an unimpressed troll with sharp, red eyes watched a human stare at a large map in the center of the room.

“I think he finally made it to the Earth kingdom!” Jade called. When no one answered, she glanced up and turned toward the grotto. She rolled her eyes before grabbing the nearest piece of junk (an amulet of some sort, probably with an ancient and powerful enchantment) and chucking it toward the pool. It hit the surface with a small pu-lunk and sunk.

Within a minute Feferi broke the surface, grinning. “Hey, Jade! Did you call?”

“Yes! He made it to the Earth kingdom!”

Feferi gasped. “Oh, how exciting!” Bubbling with energy, she swam forward until she could wade to the edge of the pool. She made a fruitless attempt to shake off some of the excess water before plodding toward Jade.

Jade indicated to a green marker on the large, incandescent map spread out before her. The image on the paper rippled and moved, glowing and alive with activity as various markers slowly inched their way across its surface. Soft whispers emanated from it, though not even Jade could hope to hear them well enough to decipher their words.

“Now we just have to see if the court will accept him!” Jade said, clapping her hands together.

“Of course they will! He’s strong and determined, they’d be dumb not to.”

“Well, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“Stupid child,” quipped the remaining troll, making no motion to join the other two. “Broken aspect. Useless.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Once again, Damara, he’s not broken. Hope is a valid aspect, he’s just...not very good at using it.”  

“Besides, he always wanted to be a knight, even when he was just a guppy,” Feferi added. “I doubt he would want to use magic anyway!”

A wicked look began to dance in Damara’s eyes as her lips curled into a smirk. “Yes. Boy swing big sword. Attack life aspect. Much less useless.”

Both Jade and Feferi narrowed their eyes. Feferi flipped her hair as she responded, “He’s not going to just swim around killing things. Unlike some people here, he’s not an glubbing asshole.”

“Hope is stupid. Boy understands pointless magic. Mighty killer.” Damara’s smirk widened into a grin. “Life destroyer.”

“Clam up,” Feferi snapped. “I know what you’re trying to do. If you think you’re going to get under my fins, you’re dumber than you look.” Her weight shifted as she spoke, and her hands were arms at her side. Even as she spoke, her eyes darted briefly to Jade.

Turning her attention to Jade, Damara nodded with mock seriousness. “Yes. Good plan. Shortly one witch dead, two witch free.”

“Shut your stupid blowhole. Jade wouldn’t conspire with you.”

She leaned forward in her chair, eyes glinting malevolently. “Can you feel?”

“What are you carping about?”

“Your boyfriend feels,” Damara said, voice hushed. “Doom feels. Tick-tock.”

Feferi stiffened. “Were you listening to our private conversations?”

“洞窟がエコーします。あなたの口が広く開きますが、あなたの足は開きません。あなたはあなたのボーイフレンドを失望。”

“Hey! I’ve held down a matesprit way longer than you, so you can shove it straight up your wastechute.”

“He hears. Death comes.”

Feferi growls. “It’s none of your business what he hears! It has nothing to do with you.”

“私が関係しています。 Time brings death.”

“Damara, I am not in the mood to deal with you today--”

“私はあなたの死体に自慰行為をします。”

Jade put her hand on Feferi’s shoulder as the seadweller sneered. “Yo, shut up--”

“Soon. I kill you.”

“I’d like to see you glubbing try!”

“Your boyfriend will cry. Tears fall on your corpse. Sad.”

“Not as sad as the holes I’m aboat to poke through your UGLY FACE--”

Damara laughed and jumped to her feet as a trident materialized in Feferi hand. A flurry of spells began to draw up, the clocks rattling and vines shooting across the cave floor as the trolls lunged at each other. They had barely managed two steps before a roar filled the cavern as space warped around them. Everything slowed, and the air depressurized. Rock shifted and groaned around them. Everything decelerated, forcing the air to still before--

“ENOUGH!” Jade’s voice cut the stillness of space like a whip, hurdling both of the trolls backwards as matter violently returned to its previous position. Clock faces shattered and glass tinkled against the floor, joining the sound of books and artifacts being thrown out of the way.

“Can we go half a week without fighting, please!” Jade snarled at her companions. They groaned from the corners of the cave they were tossed to, struggling to right themselves.

“Oh, carp off, Jade. Like you weren’t guilty of it last time,” Feferi grumbled as she grabbed at a table to pull herself out of a pile of scrolls.

“Yeah, and maybe I’m tired of it! If I wasn’t sure you two would break reality, I’d be gone faster than you could blink.”

“I say the same,” Damara snapped, crossing her arm and laying back with a huff.

Feferi chuckled sardonically as she picked pieces of debris from her hair. “Good thing we don’t go into public. We vacillate so often it’s embarrassing.”

“Scandalous,” Jade mumbled.

Damara barked a laugh. “Virgin brain. Prude.”

Feferi bristled. “At least Jade is tolerbubble.”

“Thanks!”

“Most of the time, anyway.”

“...Thanks.”

They didn’t bother cleaning up the mess.

**Author's Note:**

> It's like an insane game of rock paper scissors  
> Time rots Life, Life manipulates Space, Space dictates Time  
> And it annoys the crap out of all of them


End file.
